Electric driving device for sewing machines



Nov. 7, 1933.

w. J. PEETS ELECTRIC muvme DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 28. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 NOV. 7, 1933. w J s 1,934,373

ELECTRIC DRIVING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 28. 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 P4 dttouwq Nov. 7, 1933.

W. J. PEETS ELECTRIC DRIVING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Oct. 28. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Novi7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Wilbur J. Peets, Elizabeth, N. J., assignor to The Singer Manufacturin N. J.

Application October 28,

6 Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to electric drives for sewing machines.

The invention has for an object to provide a sewing machine with a simplified motor-drive which is built-on rather than built-in" the sewing machine, but otherwise possesses the many advantages of a built-in construction, such as (1) compactness and housability within the usual hand-carrying case or. drop-head cabinet; (2) unitary removability of the motor; (3) geardrive; (4) provision for disconnection of the sewing machine main-shaft so that the hand-wheel only may be motor-driven for bobbin-winding; (5) provision of a spring-connection between the gears and hand-wheel to eliminate gear noise.

The present construction avoids certain complications and disadvantages of a built-in geared motor construction which heretofore has necessitated considerable modification of the usual sewing machine gooseneck and rearrangement of the usual sewing machine mechanism within the sewing machine frame. It also avoids the heretofore complicated and costly construction required in a built-in motor outfit to effect the electric drive of the hand-wheel only, for bobbin-winding purposes.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred'embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 of the drawings is a rear end elevation of a sewing machine embodying the invention and housed in a carrying case. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front side elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a top plan view. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a disassembled perspective view of the hub of the sewing machine balance wheel and parts carried thereby. Fig. 7 is a disassembled perspective view of the parts of the manually operated hand-wheel clutch by means of which the sewing machine main-shaft may be disconnected from the handwheel so that the hand-wheel only may be electrically driven for bobbin-winding, and Fig. 8 is a view showing the bobbin-winder latched in running or winding position relative to the hub of the sewing machine hand-wheel.

The sewing machine comprises the usual bed g Company, Elizabeth,

, a corporation of New Jersey 1931. Serial No. 571,560

1, from which rises the standard 2 of the hollow gooseneck 3 formed in its rear side at its bend with the conventional opening 4 closed by the removable cover 5 for access to the mechanism within the gooseneck. The sewing machine may be seated on the usual base-member '7 and, when not in use, may be housed within the cover-section 6 of the usual carrying case including the base '7.

The gooseneck 3 is formed with a cylindrical bearing-boss 8 for the main-shaft 9; the bearing-boss being surrounded by the fiat annular seat 10 formed on the gooseneck.

Screwed to the fiat annular seat 10 is the fiat wall 11 of the cup-shaped motor-frame casting 12 which is formed with an aperture in its bottom wall fitting over the bearing-boss 8. The casting 12 is further formed with alined apertures for the spaced bearing-bushings 13 in which is journaled the motor-shaft 14 carrying the motor- 7 armature 15 and commutator 16. A worm 17 is fixed to the motor-shaft between the bearings 13.

The motor-frame casting 12 is formed below the bearings 13 with lubricant-wells 18 closed at their lower ends by screw-plugs 19 and there is a passageway 20 in the casting 12 below the worm 17 connecting the upper ends of the wells 18. Spring-pressed wicks 21 in the wells 18 conduct lubricant to the motor-shaft sections within the bearings 13.

The motor-frame casting 12 is formed with vertically disposed apertures in which are secured by screws 22 the usual insulated brush-tubes 23. The laminated field-frame 24 of the motor is secured by screws 25 to the vertical seat 26 formed at the rear of the motor-frame casting, and is enclosed by the cover 27. It will be observed that the motor has two fiat vertical sides 28, and does not overlie or obstruct the gooseneck opening 4. The motor is also disposed be- 5 tween the vertical plane of the main-shaft 9 and the wall 29, Fig. 1, of the usual means for housing the machine when not in use.

Pinned to the main-shaft 9 is a sleeve 30 on which is journaled the hub 31 of the hand-wheel 0 32' having a rim 33. The hand-wheel hub 31 is formed with a reduced extension 34 which over laps the main-shaft bearing-boss 8, as shown in Fig. 5, and terminates closely adjacent the bottom wall 11 of the cup-shaped motor-frame-cast- 05 ing 12. Freely mounted on the hub-extension 34 is a gear 35 preferably formed of fabric impregnated with a phenolic condensation product, such non-metallic gears being well known to the trade. The gear 35 has projecting from one side face thereof a pin 36 which is connected by the circular spring 37 to the pin 38 fixed to the hand-wheel hub 31. A thin metal washer 39 is interposed between the gear 35 and spring 3'7. This washer has an aperture 40 which is entered by the pin 38. It is also formed with an arcuate clearance slot 41 which is entered by the pin 36 and permits the gear 35 to partake of a limited movement relative to the hand-wheel 32. This expedient is found to be highly efficient in minimizing gear noise. A collar 42 is fixed to the hub-extension 34 on the side of the gear 35 opposite the spring 37.

The sleeve 30 is formed with a shoulder 43 against which a corresponding shoulder within the reduced extension 34 of the hand-wheel hub 31 is clamped by the manually operated clutchscrew 44. The clutch-screw 44 is threaded into the outer end of the sleeve 30 and bears against a washer 45 which, in turn, bears against the hand-wheel 32. The washer 45 has the inwardly extending tongues 46 which enter the keying notches 47 in the outer end of the sleeve 30. The washer 45 also carries three equidistantly spaced stop-pins 48 a selected one of which is engaged by the removable stop-screw 49 carried by the clutch-screw 44 and prevents undue loosening of the clutch-screw. This type of manually operated hand-wheel clutch is not new, per se.

The hub 31 of the hand-wheel may be formed with a suitable oil-sling to prevent escape of lubricant from the gear-housing 12. Such oil-sling may comprise a spiral groove 50 cut in the handwheel hub 31.

The motor-frame casting 12 is formed with an upwardly and forwardly inclined arm 51 on which is pivoted at 52 the bell-crank lever 53, 53', the arm 53 of which carries the usual bobbin-winder spindle 54 and rubber-tired driving-wheel 55 therefor, which wheel 55 may be pressed into working engagement with the cylindrical shoulder 56 of the hand-wheel, as shown in Fig. 8, in which position it is held by the usual latch 5''! engaging under the shoulder 58 of the arm 53. This type of bobbin-winder is well known, per se, and is disclosed for example in the patents to McFarlane, No. 961,154, of Jun. 14, 1910, and Hemleb, No. 1,151,877, of Aug. 31, 1915.

The passageway between the oil-wells 18 connects the latter with the space within the cup shaped housing12 for the gears 17 and 35, so that excess gear lubricant will find its way by gravity into the oil-wells and be fed through the wicks to the motor-shaft bearings.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:-

1. The combination with a sewing machine having a gooseneck formed with the usual opening in the rear side at the bend thereof, housing means including a cover-wall spaced from the rear side of said gooseneck, said sewing machine having a main-shaft and a hand-wheel, of an electric motor having a power-shaft disposed transversely of said main-shaft and geared to said hand-wheel, said motor being disposed'between said cover-wall and the vertical plane of the sewing machine main-shaft and being in nonobstructing relation to said gooseneck opening and between the latter and the plane of the rim of the sewing machine hand-wheel.

2. The combination with a sewing machine gooseneck having a cylindrical bearing-boss surrounded by a fiat annular seat, and a main-shaft journaled in said bearing-boss, of a motor-frame including a cup-shaped housing having a fiat wall screwed to said seat, said wall having an opening fitting over said bearing-boss, a motor-shaft journaled in said housing transversely of said mainshaft, 9. hand-wheel having a cylindrical hub entering said cup-shaped housing, a gear-connec-- tion between said motor-shaft and hand-wheel hub, and manually operated means for tightening and loosening said hand-wheel relative to said main-shaft.

3. The combination with a sewing machine gooseneck having a cylindrical main-shaft bearing-boss surrounded by a fiat annular seat, and a main-shaft journaled in said bearing-boss, of a motor-frame including a cup-shaped housing having a flat wall screwed to said seat, said bottom wall having an opening fitting over said bearing-boss, a motor-shaft journaled in said housing transversely of said main-shaft, a hand-wheel carried by said main-shaft and formed with a hub overhanging said bearing-boss and closely adjacent the fiat wall of the motor-frame housing, a gear carried by said hub, a worm on the motorshaft meshing with said gear, and manually operated means for connecting and disconnecting said hand-wheel to and from said main-shaft.

4. The combination with a sewing machine gooseneck having a bearing-boss, and a mainshaft journaled in said bearing-boss, of a motorframe including a cup-shaped housing applied to said bearing-boss, said housing having spaced alined motor-shaft bearings disposed below and transversely of said main-shaft, a motor-shaft journaled in said bearings, said housing being formed with lubricant-wells below said motorshaft bearings in communication with the space within said housing, a worm on the motor-shaft between said bearings, a hand-wheel on the mainshaft, a gear on the hand-wheel within said cupshaped housing meshing with said worm, and wicks extending upwardly from said lubricantwells to said motor-shaft bearings.

5. The combination with a sewing machine having a hollow gooseneck, a main-shaft, a handwheel, and a readily accessible manually operated hand-wheel clutch for connecting the handwheel to and disconnecting it from the main-shaft, a driving motor having a power-shaft disposed transversely of said main-shaft and geared at all times to said hand-wheel exteriorly of said gooseneck, and a bobbin-winder engageable with said hand-wheel.

6. The combination with a sewing machine having a hollow gooseneck, a main-shaft, a handwheel having a hub, and a readily accessible manually operated hand-wheel clutch for tightening and loosening the hand-wheel relative to said main-shaft, of a motor including a frame mounted upon and exteriorly of said hollow gooseneck, said motor including a power-shaft, a worm on said power-shaft, a gear running at all times with said hand-wheel and mounted on said hand-wheel hub in mesh with said worm exteriorly of said gooseneck; and a bobbin-winder mounted on said motor-frame in position to engage said handwheel.

WLLBUR J. PEETS. 

